Eat Your Vegetables

After my recent regular physical examination, I informed my wife of the results: “The doctor told me to reduce my stress, get more exercise and eat more fruits and vegetables.” My wife’s immediate response was “Do you understand that Blackberry® is not a fruit.” I did not respond to my wife’s comment because I was recalling the fact that I was sending an e-mail via my Blackberry® during my EKG.

As I write this, I am fresh off a busy ten day period, including several days out-of-state for depositions. Yet, every e-mail message sent to me while I was on the road was timely responded to, my schedule was kept up to date, all of my billable time was remotely entered in Timeslips and I was able to work on files I did not bring with me on my trips. The most significant piece of equipment in my road toolbox is my Blackberry®. On a typical day, I receive approximately 50 business e-mails. Whether out of town, at a local deposition, at the airport or in court, responding to e-mail via my Blackberry® allows me the opportunity to make efficient use of my down time by timely responding to e-mails, which not only makes my clients and colleagues happy, but also saves me time when I am back in the office. The Blackberry® is also a cell phone and can obviously be used to retrieve voicemail messages. My firm uses Timeslips (by Sage) 2007 for time and billing (www.timeslips.com). Using my Blackberry®, I create time or expense slips in Timeslips via e-mail, thus saving me time when I return to the office (not to mention allowing me to accurately capture all of my time and expenses incurred when I am out of the office working on a matter for several days). My firm uses Timematters 7.0 (a LexisNexis product) for scheduling, contacts and case management (www.timematters.com). Timematters 7.0 syncs with my Blackberry® so that I have my calendar and contacts with me when I am on the road. The ability to access client information and manage my schedule remotely further allows me to make the most of my time with little additional effort. If you are going to use the Blackberry® as a cell phone, you should consider adding Bluetooth® wireless technology as a wireless headset. It may not be a source of antioxidants, but my Blackberry® is my most indispensable out-of-office tool.

Every lawyer who travels for business needs a notebook computer equipped with wireless technology already built in. If you are in the market for a new notebook, buy one with a legacy port (i.e., parallel printer port, serial port and PS\2 port for keyboards and mice). Some manufacturers remove the legacy ports in lieu of “modern” ports such as USB ports. You definitely want a wireless access point (AP) for your notebook. The AP acts as a bridge between your existing wired network and your computers and other peripherals (i.e., printer) that are also equipped with wireless technology or are part of a wired network. AP usually takes the form of a wireless router that also includes a wired switch to connect other computers by cable. AP also has a port to connect to your DSL or cable modem. I use a Linksys® wireless router. You should carry a wireless mouse for your laptop and a spare battery. Firewall, anti virus and encryption software are necessary to protect the security and confidentiality of the information you store and access from your notebook computer. Do not skimp when it comes to security for any of your computers. Also consider disabling file and printer sharing and your wireless card ad hoc option as additional security measures. Maintain your operating system by verifying that it is updated regularly with the latest patches and security updates and releases. It is no fun when you have electronic files you want to use at a deposition or in court and upon firing up your notebook computer you find that it is not useable due to an avoidable security breach.

Utilization of (USB) flash drives allows me to travel much lighter because I store documents to review at the airport, on the plane and in the hotel on flash memory, as well as pleadings, correspondence and other documents relevant to the reason for my trip but not necessarily going to be used as exhibits in the deposition(s). Flash drives are inexpensive so buy at least a 2GB drive. Our office uses DocStar version 3.6 for document imaging (www.docstar.com), along with TextBridge Pro 11.0 (www.nuance.com/textbridge) for converting scanned images into editable Word documents. I can quickly retrieve and save to my flash memory stick any documents I want to have available and avoid lugging boxes of documents to and from my destination. We use LiveNote for transcript management and it takes very little time to store copies of relevant transcripts on my flash memory for use on my laptop (www.livenote.com). Depending upon what type of practice you have, you may also want to invest in an air card, document camera, and consider FireWire, USB, Ethernet and telephone cables and connectors.

A digital recorder (I use both Sony and Olympus recorders) is also a valuable part of my toolbox because I can talk faster than I can type. If any important faxes or snail mail are received in your absence, your office staff should have instructions to scan and e-mail the documents to you for review. You can then review the documents and, if necessary, dictate any responsive correspondence or pleadings while on the road. It is also important to establish a protocol as to what types of documents should not be scanned and e-mailed.

Please note that while there are many other outstanding products on the market, I am writing only about the products that I actually use. Other lawyers I know use a wide variety of products that I have viewed demonstrations of, including the Kyocera 7135 Smartphone (www.Kyocera-wireless.com/7135-smartphone). This device serves as a cell phone, personal digital assistant, portable computer and MP3 player. The Kyocera 7135 uses Palm OS® software and with the optional folding portable keyboard, is used by some in lieu of a laptop on the road. Of course, this device also offers wireless e-mail and internet access. Dell, Sony and Toshiba manufacture pocket PCs but you will probably find Palm technology easier to use. A few years ago, I wrote about the then-IBM tablet models and thought they would catch on in the legal profession. However, tablets do not yet seem to be mainstream in our business.

In addition to the Kyocera Smartphone as an alternative to the Blackberry®, you should also consider the Palm products (www.palm.com), especially the Treo (store.palm.com/home/index). The Siemens SX 56 also merits consideration. The best device for your needs depends on what your needs are. An additional reason why I favor my Blackberry® is the extended battery life. I just replaced my 3 ½ year old 6200 series with an 8700 series that has standby battery life of a couple of weeks (which translates into about a week if you are actively using the device for e-mail and schedule management).

I am not a fan of buying the latest, greatest technology as soon as it hits the market. All of the hardware and software discussed in this article is affordable, user-friendly and relatively easy to maintain without professional help. I use all of the aforementioned tools to better serve my clients. My experience has been that by using these tools when I am out of the office, I can spend less time in the office. I purchase and use technology that will make me significantly more productive than I would otherwise be. For my practice, this means technology that will enable me to do as many things away from my office that I would ordinarily do in the office. I will work on eating more vegetables, but don’t mess with my Blackberry®.